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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

LOVE'S ROSES by PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY

Poet Analysis

First Line: HOPES, THAT SWELL IN YOUTHFUL BREASTS
Last Line: IN WHICH ITS VERMEIL SPLENDORS SHINE.
I

HOPES, that swell in youthful breasts,
Live not through the waste of time?
Love's rose a host of thorns invests;
Cold, ungenial is the clime,
Where its honors blow.
Youth says, 'The purple flowers are mine,'
Which die the while they glow.

II

Dear the boon to Fancy given,
Retracted whilst it's granted:
Sweet the rose which lives in heaven,
Although on earth 't is planted,
Where its honors blow,
While by earth's slaves the leaves are riven
Which die the while they glow.

III

Age cannot Love destroy,
But perfidy can blast the flower,
Even when in most unwary hour
It blooms in Fancy's bower.
Age cannot Love destroy,
But perfidy can rend the shrine
In which its vermeil splendors shine.



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